Apple TV+, iPhones believed to be in spotlight at Apple ‘special event’
Revelations come at crucial time as company dives deeper into streaming
With September here, some things typical to the Bay Area are underway.
The Raiders, full of drama as always, are beginning another “final” season in Oakland. The weather is slowly beginning to switch from summer to fall.
And Apple is holding a “special event” at its Cupertino headquarters.
At 10 a.m. today, Apple — like it has done every September or October for more than a decade — will kick off its seasonal shindig when CEO Tim Cook takes the stage at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus. That the company will show off several new things isn’t a surprise. But this year’s event comes at what is a critical juncture for Apple: It looks to restore some of its luster following a disappointing 2018 holiday quarter, while trying to establish a toehold in a streaming TV market loaded with rivals with more experience and larger content libraries.
The main product at Apple’s event will be the iPhone. The company hasn’t said anything publicly about what it has in mind for this year’s update, but various reports have said three new iPhones are in the works, including two so-called “pro” iPhones that will take the place of the current iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max. A third iPhone reportedly will be shown off that will replace the iPhone XR.
The iPhone is still Apple’s largest source of revenue, and those sales remain crucial to the company’s overall business health. Any new iPhones that Apple shows off likely will be on sale in time for the end-of-the year holiday shopping season, which includes Apple’s biggest revenue quarter of the year.
Apple is hoping that new iPhones will help it return
to revenue growth in October, November and December. During the same period in 2018, Apple reported total sales of $84.3 billion in revenue, which would cover an entire year’s worth of revenue for many companies. However, that amount represented a 5% decline from the same period in 2017.
Adding to the pressure on Apple will be the need to sell as many iPhones as possible prior to Dec. 15. That’s when President Donald Trump has said new tariffs on mobile phones made in China and imported into the United States are set to go into effect. Trump delayed the tariff increase so that Apple and other mobile phone makers wouldn’t need to raise their prices as consumers do their holiday shopping.
Another of Apple’s big pushes will be its Apple TV+ subscription TV service. The company hasn’t said how much it will charge for Apple TV+, but it is believed to be planning a launch in a matter of weeks with a fee of $9.99 per month. So far, Apple has only touted some of the original programs it has planned for Apple TV+, and it hasn’t said if the service will include content not produced exclusively for Apple.
When Apple TV+ goes live, it will be doing so about the same time that Disney will flip the switch on its highly anticipated Disney+ service; it’s slated to go live Nov. 12. Disney has said it will charge $6.99 a month for Disney+, or $12.99 a month for a bundled package that also includes Disney-owned ESPN+ and Hulu’s ad-supported streaming TV offering.
Apple also is believed to be preparing to unveil a new, higher-end professional iPad, and another lower-cost iPad aimed at the student market. At least one new MacBook Pro laptop, and details about upgrades to the Apple TV set-top box and the Apple Watch could also be on display in Cupertino on Tuesday.